4of10Ingredients for crab taquitos with aioli and avocado salsa made by chefs Dona Savitsky and Thomas Schnetz of Dona Tomas restaurant in a home kitchen in Oakland, Calif., on Thursday, January 8, 2015.Photo: Liz Hafalia, The Chronicle

Put the whole tomatillos in a bowl of cold water (this makes them easier to peel), then peel off the sticky outer husk. Transfer the tomatillos to a food processor and add the avocado, garlic and cilantro. Process until smooth, thinning with water as necessary to make a sauce with a pourable consistency. Season to taste with salt, then transfer to a bowl and set aside.

2. Make the aioli.

Put the egg yolk in a medium bowl set on top of a kitchen towel (this will help stabilize the bowl as you whisk). Pour the oil into a measuring cup with a pouring spout.

Begin whisking the egg yolk with your dominant hand, holding the measuring cup of oil in your other hand. Pour the oil into the yolk, drop by drop at first, whisking continuously, until the mixture begins to visibly thicken and emulsify; if you add the oil too quickly at the beginning, the emulsion will break and the aioli will not thicken properly. Once you’ve established the emulsion, continue to add the oil in a steady stream, whisking constantly, until all of the oil has been incorporated.

“If at any point the aioli starts to look ropy or has visible whisk lines, whisk in a few teaspoons of warm water, which will help smooth it out,” Savitsky says.

When all of the oil has been incorporated, stir in the minced garlic and chile, and season to taste with salt and lemon juice. This recipe will make more aioli than you need for the taquitos. The remainder can be stored in the refrigerator up to a week.

3. Make the taquito filling.

In a medium frying pan over medium heat, heat the olive oil and butter. When the butter has melted, add the carrots, celery and shallots, season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring, until the vegetables are soft but not browned, about 10 minutes.

Transfer to a bowl and add the lime zest and crab meat, breaking up any large chunks of crab and making sure to discard any cartilage or shell. Add 3 tablespoons of the prepared aioli and stir to combine. The mixture should be moist but not overdressed; add additional aioli if necessary.

4. Stuff and roll the taquitos.

Pour a small film of vegetable oil into a small frying pan; When the oil is hot, fry the tortillas one at a time just until pliable, flipping once, about 30 seconds total. Repeat with remaining tortillas.

If you don’t want to fry the tortillas, you can wrap them in a clean kitchen towel and microwave them until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then fill and fry as described in Step 5.

Place about 3 tablespoons of the crab mixture in a line about one-third of the way from the bottom edge of each tortilla. Gently fold the bottom of the tortilla over the filling and roll up like a cigar. The cylinders should be about 1-inch in diameter. To keep the tortillas rolled up, place 3 of the rolls side by side and pierce through all of them with two evenly spaced wooden skewers.

5. Fry and serve.

In a heavy-bottom pot suitable for deep frying, pour canola oil to a depth of 1½ inches and turn the burner to medium-high. Heat the oil until it starts to ripple; test the temperature by gently submerging a set of skewered taquitos — the oil should start quickly bubbling on contact. If it does not, the oil is too cool. If it bubbles furiously, the oil is too hot.

Working in batches, fry the taquitos for 2 to 3 minutes, until lightly browned. The ends should be crisp but the middles should remain slightly soft. Transfer to paper towels to drain and sprinkle with salt. Repeat with remaining taquitos.